Shore Leave or Not to Shore Leave?

For a famous character in Shakespeare, the question was "To be or not to be." For the crew of the USS Rattler, the question was more prosaic.

For reasons that went unrecorded, a group of twenty sailors from the ship went on leave in Rodney, Mississippi. Unlike most servicemen on leave, the group headed for the local church. As they sat in services, a Confederate cavalry patrol entered the church and captured them all.

The Civil War has much to teach us. This day in 1863 was no exception. Today's lesson is never to go on shore leave in enemy territory.
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